Disclaimer:This post was sponsored by Cowlines. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

I ditched my car five years ago when I made the move to Vancouver from Ontario. Do I regret it? Not for one second! Do I miss it? Not really and I’ll tell you why. I don’t miss the car payments, the outrageous cost of insurance, gas or all the inconveniences of parking and I certainly don’t miss the stress of traveling in city traffic. My boyfriend owns a vehicle and spends so much time every day sitting in traffic and I see the stress on his face at the end of the day created by his commuting. And living in the City, I hear the honking all day of frustrated commuters!

So how do I get around? I go multimodal. I walk, take the bus, train, ferry, and cab (patiently waiting for Uber and Lyft to make its way to Vancity). My favorite mode of transportation is walking or taking the bus. Luckily, I have a bus stop right outside my doorstep which is extremely convenient. Tip: When looking for rentals, scout out the closet modes of transportation.

I love going multimodal because I feel like I’m truly making a difference to the planet by reducing my carbon footprint. I’m a firm believer in global warming and I’d like to believe my efforts, however small, are fighting climate change and improving air quality. That’s why I love Cowlines. Cowlines is an app that is able to track and report your carbon footprint using the world’s first GHG Quantification methodology. How cool is that!?

Cowlines is a super advanced trip planning app that combines all transport options available in your city and finds you the fastest, cheapest or recommended way to your destination. Like there Instagram says, it’s like having superpowers! Once you choose between one of the 3 options available: fastest, cheapest or recommended, Cowlines will find the way there combining all the transport providers that you want except your own car. It’s YOUR choice! That’s what I LOVE about this app. Simply touch the transport icon/s you don’t want included in your search and voila! your only left with the transport options you want for that route. It’s so easy!

Fun fact: ‘Cowlines’ is a term urban planners use to describe the easiest or best path to a destination.

Cowlines has easily become my favorite and most used travel app on my smartphone. Not only does it make traveling super convenient for you, but it’s also a beautiful user experience. The app’s design is very simple and clean. (See below) There’s no sign-in required or any hidden charges which, means no hassle! Just download the free app, and GO! Go be multimodal and save the planet!

I know what you’re wondering. YES, Cowlines supports other cities such as Greater Toronto, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, LA, San Diego and NYC (all coming in Fall/Winter 2018).

I’m eager to watch Cowlines take over the trip planning space. Move over Google Maps, Cowlines is coming to a city near you!

Cowlines is now available for download at the App Store. To learn more about Cowlines, click here. To find them on social, click here.

For general inquiries, please reach out to info@cowlines.com.

I hope learning about Cowlines has inspired you to rethink your transportation journey (regardless of if you live in a city or not).

One of the things I love about my city is its street art, specifically, wall murals. Vancouver has a wonderful display of murals throughout the city but I find myself drawn to those located in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

This past August, the city had a large range of new murals pop-up for this years Vancouver Mural Festival., the city’s largest annual free public art celebration. To learn more about VMF, click here.

Just recently, I walked down the streets and alleyways of Mount Pleasant, mural map in hand, exploring the new and old murals. I loved how bright, flowery and detailed they were as if every stroke of the brush was strategically planned. These artists are definitely talented!

When I finished exploring, I returned home to scroll through the photos taken by my boyfriend and as soon as I saw them I couldn’t wait to share the beautiful work of these artists. I couldn’t decide which mural to share with you as they were all brilliant so below are a collection of my favourites.